Items

• 
  2021-10-08

  my Quarantined life

  My Name is Alex Clayton and I go to lone star Middle School, and I am a basketball player for the Idaho Stags. It started as a news report saying a cruise ship arrived in the U.S with diseased passengers and I did not think anything big about it, so I let It go. A few months later everything shut down out m of nowhere and school, restaurants, movie theatres, just anything public that is a company shut down or was close to that. Eventually things started to die down and things opened back up, but you would get your temperature checked and be wearing a mask everywhere. Life was never the same for like two years. (This was all my perspective) -Alex Clayton
• 
  2020-03-11

  COVID Response Team Awaits the New Day

  When the outbreak first began back in February and at the beginning of March, I was a waitress at the Walnut Creek Marriott experiencing cutbacks in my service to others as well as in the number of guests received at my hotel. However, the Federal Government sent a team of specialists from the CDC to Walnut Creek, CA in order to help treat patients stuck in quarantine on the Grand Princess Cruise Liner. At the time, people were not being allowed off the ship due to the viral concerns, and the team treated most if not all their patients at Travis Air Force Base. These doctors worked relentlessly long hours and would leave at the very start of the day and return so very wiped out. I continued to serve this group until I was laid off from the company in mid April
• 2020-10-07

  Covid on a Cruise Ship!

  It was the week before spring break and I was gearing up for a three day cruise with friends. I want to preface this by saying I am a teacher and this spring break was much needed after a rough semester. Anyways! The pandemic had started but it was only in China and Italy. We didn’t really know how rapidly it would spread. In past outbreaks of viruses they usually were contained in a few areas and didn’t rapidly spread. It felt like when we got on the boat it was in Europe and when we got off three days later it was in the US. There was over 100 friends there on the boat and I know a total of 70 of us got sick. Everyone was mostly fine and got over it in a couple of days. I was sick for three weeks. All the symptoms except I couldn’t breathe and that was the absolute worst. I don’t have great lungs anyways- I can thank multiple rounds of bronchitis for that. Anyway- there was days when I struggled to breathe. If I didn’t have certain medications to help, I think it would have been worse. Not deadly, but incredibly shallowed breathing. However, a month went by and then I started feeling great. I had residual burning in my lungs from when I was trying to heal and it took my body awhile to get back to where it was. A few short weeks after I was better, I noticed my body was having a really hard time doing anything without feeling I was having a heart attack. I got my blood work done and realized that my thyroid, vitamin D levels, hormones, and vitamin B levels were almost none existent. It’s been months now but after regulating them- I have never felt better. There were news reports that came out recently that attested people’s vitamin d levels that were low had stronger cases of Covid-19. After a lot of studying, I am a believer that if our bodies aren’t well, we can’t fight off viruses and bacteria’s as well as we think we should be able too. Our thyroid is the stabler for everything that functions in our bodies. My immune system was shot when I got covid and I believe whole heartedly that my body couldn’t fight it because it didn’t have the strength too. It is so important that we take a hard look at our health and recognize we can’t be reliant on pills and medicines if we as a people aren’t healthy.
• 
  2020-04-25

  Did Cruise Companies Act too Late?

  All it took was one passenger who disembarked a week before others began to fall ill, to quarantine all passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess by February 4th. Given the dire nature of these outbreaks, many have asked – did the cruise companies act too late? This Washington Post article outlines the experiences of the Celebrity Eclipse and Coral Princess, where before passengers could disembark, the two ships reported 150 Covid-19 cases and six deaths in April. At the time the article was written, the cruise industry reported outbreaks on 55 ships in waters across the globe and 65 deaths among passengers and crew. The article alleges that the industry failed to recognize the signs and symptoms of Covid-19, which later were confirmed as positive cases. Further concerning allegations from the article claim that cruise ships brought Covid-19 to ports and cities around the globe that were otherwise virus-free, where many places lacked the infrastructure to handle large-scale outbreaks.
• 
  2020-08-07

  CDC Rates Cruise Ships for Sanitation and Cleanliness

  Cruise ships are bustling cities. Lido decks are a din of conversation over food, and while most cruise ships suspended buffets years ago, passengers still share access to, among others, refillable water stations, cookie baskets, and salt and pepper shakers. Tables are close together and guests stand closely in line. While hand sanitizer stations are dotted throughout common areas, cruise ships with so many people in such close quarters, are difficult places to prevent the spread of aerosol, airborne virus’ like Covid-19. Now that cruise ships, and world health organizations, have had time to assess the risk they are developing new protocols to help making cruising possible again when it is safe to do so. The United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the Vessel Sanitation Program, which is now shifting to include Covid-19 health protocols. Ships receive a surprise inspection from the CDC where they evaluate the following areas: medial facilities, potable water systems, swimming pools and whirlpool spas, galleys and dining rooms, child activity centers, hotel accommodations, ventilation systems, and common areas of the ship. At The Points Guy blog, they outline how the program works and how future cruisers can use the CDC data to inform the health and safety of their future vacation.
• 
  2020-04-03

  Cruise Industry Crewmembers Heroes during Covid Pandemic

  The cruise industry is a tight-knit group, where it seems like everyone knows everyone else. The Covid-19 pandemic blindsided the industry, which was unprepared for how quickly Covid-19 would spread across the globe and amongst ships. Covid-19 stressed all health and sanitation protocols the industry at large had in place. This lead to some dire circumstances and a humanitarian crisis with Covid-19 outbreaks aboard cruise ships adrift at sea where they were denied port entry in numerous countries around the world. The following article is an appeal for help written early on in the crisis by Suzanne Westover, wife of Holland America Line’s Staff Captain Craig Ravesloot. Herself a former crew member, Suzanne uses her platform to remind the world that the onboard crew was working round the clock to protect the health and wellbeing of passengers. Her friends and colleagues at sea needed help, the situation was dire, what would we do if in the same position?
• 
  2020-06-18

  100 Days of Coronavirus in the Bay Area

  Today I discovered the beautiful visual essay produced by the San Francisco Chronicle. The visual essay, entitled 100 Days of Coronavirus in the Bay Area, includes moments from the earliest days of the pandemic in the region. The visual essay is a collection of photographs and short videos, punctuated with small explanatory paragraphs, that beautifully captures the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic in the San Francisco Bay Area. While there are a number of notable moments included, the image of the original cruise ship carrying suspected COVID-19 patients entering the Bay and the shot of an almost entirely empty Bay Bridge are striking. I remember the day the cruise ship docked in Oakland. It felt like I was the only one I knew registering the gravity of impending pandemic. Submitted for the #sanfranciscobayarea collection. Contributed by Shanna Gagnon, curatorial intern for Arizona State University, HST 580.
• 
  2020-03-13

  ASU Travel Advisory

  ASU distributed this email, from the provost, to employees on March 13, 2020.